I must say that I don't spend as much time following sports as did a few years ago. I suppose its because I have other things that occupy my time, such as working or watching movies. It also could be because of the morass that sports has become. Between off-field violence, criminal prosecutions, and the whole steroids mess, I suppose I decided to tune out*.
I've always wanted to witness a sports moment somewhat like the one at the end of the first episode of Sports Night. In that episode, co-anchor Casey, pissed off at his rough divorce, seems to be completely disillusioned with sports. Just as his anger, only tangentially related to sports, someone breaks in and tells him to tune into a runner in the process of breaking the fastest mile record. It reaffirms his belief that sports can be damn entertaining and even inspiring, even if it also can be very disappointing.
As cliche as that ending may have been, I must admit that I had a similar experience today. As I sat working on some web developing work, I was not in a good mood. Not so much in response to the work I was doing, but at certain political events and the chickenshits that cause them **. I was this close to starting a diatribe on that subject, a post that would neither assuage my frustration at the situation or do a damn thing to change it.
When my brother turned the TV on, I wasn't too appreciative of it. Had I known why, i probably wouldn't have been so angry. Unaware of what was going on on the South Side of Chicago at the time, I thought he was just going to watch some show on the DVR. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but my state of mind at that time considered it a very annoying thing to do.
Shortly after he turned the channel to Comcast SportsNet, DeWayne Wise made one of the greatest catches I had ever seen. Despite the fact that it probably saved a home run, I thought the crowd was overly exhuberant at the time. Even if he hadn't caught the ball, the Rays would still need four runs to even tie the game. The atmosphere almost seemed like a playoff game, which should have tipped me off to what was happening.
After the second out, I finally became aware of the fact that Buerhle was one out away from a perfect game. I had never seen a no-hitter as it happened, let alone a perfect game, so I immediately became transfixed on what had been just five minutes earlier a typical July game. I wasn't thinking about the crap happening in Washington, or on any of the other minute details. The only thing I was worried about at that moment was if the Sox could get just one last out.
The pessimistic side in me said he would blow it, that players from the White Sox just don't accomplish these feats. I fully expected that the count would go from 2-1 to 4-1, completely ruining the perfect game. Of course the optimistic side in me said otherwise, believing that the improbable would happen. After all, it happened in back to back Bears games in 2001, and it happened in 2005 for the White Sox. Why couldn't it happen here?
I have experienced so few times where I have been truly and unequivocally happy. Most times I wonder if I am actually happy, or if I am constructing an artificial happiness because I should be happy. When Bartlett grounded to Ramirez, who then threw it to Fields for the out, I had one of those rare moments of joy. I had witnessed history, even if was just sports history. It was the first perfect game for a White Sox pitcher since 1922, and only the seventeenth regular season perfect game in MLB history.
Those few moments had added some fun to what was otherwise a fairly mediocre day. It may be the last time I will ever see a pitcher complete one of the biggest feats in his sport, but I don't care. It cut through all of the Michael Vicks, the Barry Bonds, and the Harry Reids of the world and showed that sometimes sports (and life) can be surprising in a good way.
Thank you, Mark Buehrle and DeWayne Wise. Now please don't be discovered to be serial puppy kickers.
*Except for the Bears. I still gotta watch the Bears screw up games.
**See Reid, Harry in the Encyclopedia of Pathetic Senate Leadership for more information.
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